Week of May 22nd, 2002
Owen had another good week. Happy, giggly, exploring everything. What a great stage!He's very quick crawling, so I suspect walking doesn't have the allure for him that it might for some. Why try something different when he can zoom around already. The only challenge is that it's hard to crawl and carry much, so he must either hold something in his mouth like a puppy, or kind of do a push/crawl which is cumbersome. It's fortunate that as he picks up speed, he gets louder. Thus when he makes a break for it, we have some warning and race to catch up.
He loves to stand, and his reach continues to lengthen. We're pretty diligent know about keeping paper and glasses of water out of his reach. We 've gotten a big lazier about hiding the remote, and consequently it's less of a coveted item. Perhaps that will change when he figures out how to operate it. He continues to fake us out to get to Ben's area, and he has a devilish grin when we catch him and lift him into our arms. He giggles with delight. Is that because he's getting picked up, or is he reveling in the skill at faking us out that he's developing? I'm worried.
We think he may have said his first word. Or rather, Scott pointed to a picture of a cat at the library and said "cat!", and Owen repeated "ca!" He's done it a few other times, but usually with us pointing and saying "cat!"
He's also started waving. Mainly to himself in the mirror, but he can wave to Scott and I as well, if he chooses. He loves doing this as we carry him past the bathroom mirror, from the tub (when we finally tire of pulling the bears out of tub so he can throw them back in). He also likes to turn the light switch on and off as we go by, and he can do the overhead light near the computer too.
He continues to be a brave little toaster about food. He had his first Thai Food and was thrilled with the Beef with Zucchini and the Pad Thai. He also happily munched Cranberry Chicken and Chipotle Chicken Chili, when we presented those as dinner options later in the week. We can only hope he's this adventurous when he's a little older.
I can't quite get my mind around the fact that we're the adults now. Our bad habits are visible to an impressionable, imitative baby. We have to model good behavior if we expect Owen to behave that way, but it's not easy trying to be a better version of yourself. I guess it's easier when you have two little eyes trained on you, but it's not comfortable being so aware of all one's faults.
I never quite understood how those parents could lose it on their kids in the grocery store. Losing their cool and taking it out on their children. But now I realize that exhaustion takes on a new meaning with parenthood, even with good endurance it can keep you from being your best you sometimes. You're spent, and you're still the one on duty. In the middle of the afternoon, when you wish desperately that you could just lie down and close your eyes, you have to stay upright. How do single parents manage? I'm so grateful I have a partner to be perky when I start to fade.
While we try very hard to be loving and nurturing and mellow and supportive with Owen, after a day of trying to be perky for him Scott and I are often completely shot by the end. We're not always able to be our best for one another, since it's taken most of what we had just getting to 6:30. It's gotten better now that Owen is (usually) sleeping through the night; this gives us more time to get chores done, and a little room to actually be people again. But it's still a challenge trying to fit all the pieces of our pre-child life back together into this new arrangement. Some pieces just don't seem to want to fit anymore.
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